Tasmania or not Tasmania...

Hi everybody,
this is nully from Italy again. one year ago I asked how good it was windsurfing in Tasmania since I was headed to the AMC to do naval architecture. In the meantime I got accepted and I should begin on February 2017. So I figured I got time to make sure I am headed to the right place windsurfing wise.
I got a little put off when somebody told me temperature can get pretty cold there and in winter there is the need for booties and hoods…so how long does this booties and hood thing lasts?? But more importantly I would really appreciate if somebody could tell me how many days a year the wind gets at 15 knts or stronger being that the threshold beyond which I can windsurf.

to be precise I am from Verona, Italy and I use to sail on Garda Lake where the wind is pretty consistent all year round. This means we sail from beginning of March to mid November (than the air temp gets under 10c and it is no fun anymore even) and in this time frame between the north wind that blows in the morning and the south wind that blows in the afternoons we can get 5 day a week of good windsurf on average. So measuring the goodness of the windsurfing condition this way, how many windy days/year (15+ knots) would you say there are in Tassie? doesn’t matter whether it is north or south, I’ll have a van and be able to move, but I will be living in Launceston attending AMC.

thanks
Nu

Ciao Nully,
One of the terms used for the lattitude Tasmania is on is "The Roaring Forties" which refers to frequent strong winds.
The wind is predominantly generated by frontal wether systems which generate much of our wind. However during summer we experience aftenoon seabreezes much like the Mistral although not as reliable. It is difficult to put a number on how many 15 K + days a year. Needless to say we get a lot of sailing days. It helps to have a wide choice of equipment. The Low Head area is the most popular sailing spot near Launceston for all disciplines. The South East coast near Hobart also offers many choices. The North West Coast boasts some world class Wavesailing but is also remote requiring planning and commitment.
Winter is fast approaching. Although we have had an unusually warm late autumn. Generally hoods and boots come out from June till October, depending on how much you suffer cold. Personally I wait till pain sets in because I dislike wearing boots and hoods! Boots are also needed for protection at some spots because of oysters and sharp rocks.
Go to the Windsurfing Tasmania website which has a comprehensive spot guide.
Once you have arrived keep a look out on this site for when and where people rear sailing. There is a great community of windsurfers who use the site for that purpose.
When you arrive feel free to private massage me. I am of Italian heritage. You'll be able to have a laugh at my rusty Italian language skills!
Buon Viaggio!

Nu Launceston is a good spot as it's close to the north coast 45 mins from Bell Buoy one of the best jumping spots on the planet, 3hours from Marrawah some of the best wave sailing on the planet, 2 hours from Stanley one of the best speed runs on the planet, 2 hours from Dorans where like minded academics drink a lot yes quite a lot and sail a bit.
Climate is similar to the south coast of France probably gets a touch cold July Aug so close to year round sailing provided you don't mind a drive we'd probably average 3-4 days a week for 10 months.
Check out the windsurf spot guide on this forum under the welcome to windsurfing tab.

A bit over four years ago I moved to tasmanian to do Naval Architecture at AMC and maximise windsurfing time just like you plan to. Being in Launceston is fantastic for windsurfing and during the winter months you will be able to sail fairly constantly without a doubt. As Geoff has pointed out though unfortunately you can't make it through the degree without spending a bit of time actually doing uni work, so don't worry if it's not windy everyday of the week; just do uni when there is no wind and skip classes when it's windy . On a side note AMC has some insane facilities that you will get to use over the four years that you are there and the degree is very interesting. I highly recommend it!

I think I begin to sense there is some good windsurfing over there. I have a Neilpryde LT1 6.4 that I use with a 111L board (RRD Firestorm), an old but powerful NR 5.0 that I use with a Starboard Kode 103L, and two more sails: a 4.5 wave sail and a 3.4 for the storms. I will be willing to buy any board or sail I might need to cover the sailing conditions of the spots near Launceston and Tasmania in general, given the fact I’ll stay at least 4 years. According to what you guys say, I should be able to score 4/5 windsurfing days/week with this kind of windsurfing gear, shouldn’t I?. I also rather wavesail that do slalom on flat water but i figure I will have to study and for that I might have to skip some good windy day. But it would help to know that when i am free and I just had to skip windy days because of studying I can always rely on my slalom gear to score some windsurfing. What I fear are those places where there comes time periods when I kinda forget about windsurfing for the wind does not pick up for ten days and then it picks up for, say, two days, right those two when you cannot skip either working or studying and than it disappears again for another week or two and so on. I am looking to build that windsurfing state of mind that makes the difference between those who lead their life and than windsurf and those others who all they wanna do is windsurfing and than, but just because they have to, do other things. I used to study and live in Hawaii, that I chose chiefly for its windsurfing fame and I’d sail at Kailua (slalom conditions) and Diamond Head (needles to say wave riding) and between the two almost any time I had spare time I was pretty much sure I would be able to get into the water and have good time (of all the spare time I had 50% was sailable), and that would keep my windsurfing psychological balance in good health…and I am now under the impression the area around Launceston and Tasmania in general could even be better.

Any other hint?
what would you say about the cold? for how long a period do you guys use gloves and booties?

for FS: what do you mean skip classes? kidding or would it be really possible? I am not going to but you know…just in case… (FS could I pvt message you?)

It must be windy here in the North because most of us northeners cant be bothered to travel even a few km to sail anywhere else. By not travelling we missed some amazing wavesailing conditions on the west coast particularly in the spring when it always seemed to be Southerly or North easterly. I cant believe that I have never sailed Kelverton on the east coast. It looks Amazing.

I wish we had your wind consistency, its been 3 weeks since i have had a sail here in se qld. I dont even look at the forecast for days at a time now